fat bottom girl tires

The tires are fat…not the girl’s bottom! We got the Cokers mounted up for Emma’s 400. You gotta love the fatty’s.

We then finished a bit of dis-assembly and hub prep. We wire brushed the front hub, then took the guts out of the headlight & removed it. Now, we’re free to really dig into the construction.

First big question: are those lowering springs out back going to fly? We have been starting to doubt it. Between the butt-dragging stance and the clearance concerns, it wasn’t looking good for the stubby new shocks. Here it is with the shorter rear shocks and the forks lowered about an inch in the triple clamp:

It’s definitely riding a bit low in the back. We very much want the bottom edge of the tank to be perfectly horizontal, we feel that’s pretty critical for the look of these bikes. So, we stuck the stock rear shocks back on and lowered the forks even a bit more.

Much better:

Okay, so the difference is subtle. But it’s the difference between the thing looking right, and looking wonky. That’s the subtle art going on here. We also decided we’re going to lift the back of the tank about a quarter inch. This gives us the perfectly horizontal lower tank line we’re after.

Here’s Josh on board the little 400. (with short rear shocks still installed) Josh is not THAT big, this bike is just tiny. It will be perfect for the owner who has requested a bike that isn’t awkwardly tall or unruly. She should be quite comfortable on this little rig. It’s gonna be a ripper.

Nate -
Both wheels are stock, they were both 18 inchers on this bike. The tires are 4.5×18 Coker Diamonds. No, no chain clearance issues at all. Not even close. Rear fender clearance on the other hand…pretty tight. It hasn’t rubbed yet in a few weeks of riding, but I couldn’t guarantee that it won’t. There is a large ‘dimple’ under the seat pan to all ow for a bit more clearance. Also, so you know, the stock front rim is narrower than the rear (3.5 vs 4.0, I think) the tires fit fine on each, you dont even notice they’re different.